Mr. Kunio Mikuriya, Secretary General of the World Customs Organization (WCO), and Mr. José Antonio Moreno, Director General of the Asociación Nacional para la Defensa de la Marcas (ANDEMA), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) during the 7th Global Congress on Combating Counterfeiting and Piracy, held in Istanbul from 24 to 26 April 2013.
Beyond acknowledging both Organizations’ respective activities in the fight against counterfeiting, the MOU is largely focused on the promotion of the Interface Public-Members (IPM), the WCO’s online interface between Customs and the private sector, and the exchange of information to help train frontline Customs officers.
"On behalf of our Members, I am very pleased that ANDEMA and the WCO have formalized their ongoing collaboration in the battle against counterfeiting. This MOU will help us to train Customs officers more efficiently thanks to the WCO’s network of experts and its online tool, IPM, providing essential information to help distinguish between genuine and fake goods. We also believe that this collaboration will help raise awareness of the impact of counterfeiting in Spain" said José Antonio Moreno, Director General of ANDEMA.
"Counterfeiting is an ever-evolving phenomenon, increasingly jeopardizing the health and safety of consumers. The WCO and its Members are determined to develop partnerships that can contribute to the further training and education both of Customs officers and the private sector, in order to fight this growing threat", said WCO Secretary General, Kunio Mikuriya.
Besides consolidating each Organization’s work in these two major areas of collaboration, the MOU will also facilitate the accomplishment of joint, innovative and complementary actions in their fight against counterfeiting.